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Facebook's Member Profile Image Used to Sell Dating Services

A brew-ha this week over at Facebook highlights the fact that many are learning the accepted norms of social networking and media. Apparently, a Facebook third-party developer used the profile picture of a Facebook member (without permission) to create an online advertisement for a singles group.

Once notified, Facebook immediately contacted its third party developer community issuing a stern warning to abide by its privacy policy. However, the breach of privacy (use of the member’s image) had already hit the news and blogs highlighting the need for industry norms to be defined and expressed by the larger body of companies providing products and services to companies advertising on sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Linkedin.

I remember back in the early days of the Internet when online advertising (in the form of banner) was becoming popular. Many mistakes were made by companies pushing the envelope of what was technologically and socially responsible. Some made mistakes while most defined the “norms” of online advertising which are not accepted by the masses. Soon, a time will emerge where the norms of advertising on social networking sites exists – but until then – we will continue to watch a few companies hiccup.

Advertising on social networking and media sites can be great for advertisers – it is a great way to extend brand, increase conversion rates, and speak to new audiences. However, brands must also be careful when asking their ad agencies and marketing service providers to push the envelope since they may inadvertently break a site’s privacy policy.